Xie Sha, Gong Chaohui, Lu Jiahao, Zhang Hao, Wu Dandan, Chi Xinli, Li Hui, Chang Chunqi
Faculty of Education, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
Brain Sci. 2022 Dec 16;12(12):1722. doi: 10.3390/brainsci12121722.
Executive function (EF) includes a set of higher-order abilities that control one's actions and thoughts consciously and has a protracted developmental trajectory that parallels the maturation of the frontal lobes, which develop speedily over the preschool period. To fully understand the development of EF in preschoolers, this study examined the relationship among the three domains of executive function (cognitive shifting, inhibitory control, and working memory) to test the applicability of the unity-diversity model in preschoolers using both behavioral and fNIRS approaches. Altogether, 58 Chinese preschoolers (34 boys, 24 girls, = 5.86 years, = 0.53, age range = 4.83-6.67 years) were administered the (DCCS), go/no-go, and missing scan task. Their brain activations in the prefrontal cortex during the tasks were examined using fNIRS. First, the behavioral results indicated that the missing scan task scores (working memory) correlated with the DCCS (cognitive shifting) and go/no-go tasks (inhibitory control). However, the latter two did not correlate with each other. Second, the fNIRS results demonstrated that the prefrontal activations during the working memory task correlated with those in the same regions during the cognitive shifting and inhibitory control tasks. However, the latter two still did not correlate. The behavioral and neuroimaging evidence jointly indicates that the unity-diversity model of EF does apply to Chinese preschoolers.
执行功能（EF）包括一组能够有意识地控制个体行为和思维的高阶能力，其发展轨迹漫长，与额叶的成熟过程平行，而额叶在学前期迅速发育。为了全面了解学龄前儿童执行功能的发展，本研究考察了执行功能的三个领域（认知转换、抑制控制和工作记忆）之间的关系，采用行为学和功能近红外光谱（fNIRS）方法来检验统一-多样性模型在学龄前儿童中的适用性。总共58名中国学龄前儿童（34名男孩，24名女孩，平均年龄 = 5.86岁，标准差 = 0.53，年龄范围 = 4.83 - 6.67岁）接受了维度变化卡片分类任务（DCCS）、停止信号任务和缺失扫描任务。使用fNIRS检测了他们在任务过程中前额叶皮层的脑激活情况。首先，行为学结果表明，缺失扫描任务得分（工作记忆）与DCCS（认知转换）和停止信号任务（抑制控制）相关。然而，后两者之间没有相关性。其次，fNIRS结果显示，工作记忆任务期间前额叶的激活与认知转换和抑制控制任务期间相同区域的激活相关。然而，后两者仍然没有相关性。行为学和神经影像学证据共同表明，执行功能的统一-多样性模型确实适用于中国学龄前儿童。
